


Pet the Cat

by Tentaculiferous



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bullying, Cats, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Female Characters, Female-Centric, Femslash, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Pets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 00:57:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6682990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tentaculiferous/pseuds/Tentaculiferous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a recent rash of litters of kittens being born on the Hogwarts grounds, Minerva McGonagall and Hagrid team up to take action against the problem: all cats brought to Hogwarts must be spayed or neutered. Both Millicent and Hermione, two devoted cat owners, have to line up to have their cats checked over. </p><p>Their mutual love of felines proves to be the first crack in the wall of mutual dislike that had separated the two before. No one could have guessed a more rigorous pet code would be the spark that would ignite the love between these two oddball girls. </p><p>[The rating may go up as the fic continues.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pet the Cat

"But my cat has already been fixed!" Pansy whined from her place in front of Millicent. A rather cross looking cat with luxurious, spotted fur lay in her arms with its ears flattened. Millicent understood. Close exposure to Pansy often had that effect on creatures, including Millicent. 

"Then yeh'll have nothin' to worry about when we check her." Hagrid explained. "Put him here." he said, gesturing to the table in front of him. 

Pansy huffed, rolling her eyes, but complied. The cat relaxed as it left her arms to sit on the table, licking its paw idly. 

Only Millicent was close to hear Pansy mutter "Stupid oaf. He probably can't even cast spells." 

"Integra revelio!" Hagrid said, flicking his wand at Pansy's cat. 

A soft red glow suffused the cat's body. Millicent felt something brush her shoulder, and peering down, she saw Granger's bushy head peeking past her. Her eyes had an intent, curious look in them. Millicent had never heard that spell recited before either. 

"He isn't fixed." Hagrid said. 

"He's a purebred Bengal," Pansy said, her eyes boring into Hagrid's as if she could only make the half-giant man understand such things through the utmost determination. "It would be a crime to neuter him!" 

"If yeh wan' ter have 'im at Hogwarts yeh have'ta have 'im fixed. Yeh can send 'im home but yeh can't keep 'im here." Hagrid said. 

"I can't be away from little Draco all year!" Pansy protested. 

Millicent, as always, felt a wave of hot embarrassment run through her on her hated roommate's behalf. Did Pansy have no self-awareness at all? She heard a choking noise behind her, and turned away from Pansy, who'd started to snivel. 

Hermione still stood behind her, and she had one hand covering her mouth to stifle the noise, but Millicent could see her warm brown eyes dancing with mirth. Her other arm was crooked around one of the largest cats Millicent had ever seen; it had to be part Kneazle. It was _very_ orange and very adorable. Millicent felt her heart melt into goo when she looked at that little squashed face. 

She hefted her own kitty, Hayden, up into a better hold, curled into the crook of one meaty arm, and reach her other large hand towards the beautiful orange cat Granger was holding. The mirth quickly left Hermione's face, and her hand darted down to secure the cat tightly in both arms as she stepped backwards and out of Millicent's reach. 

Millicent stilled, her arm frozen as she considered Hermione's reaction. It made sense. She was part of Pansy's squad and had only ever caused Hermione torment before. 

"I just want to pet him." Millicent said, her voice sounding lame and awkward even to her own ears.

She couldn't blame Hermione for not trusting her. She would have shrank away if she'd seen a Weasley or most Gryffindors reaching for her beloved Hayden.

Hermione's eyes shrewdly considered her, and Millicent tried not to wilt under the intense weight of all that intelligence concentrated on her, sizing her up. It was when the other girl took note of the bundle in her arms that Millicent saw her gaze soften. Millicent took a quick look down at him: his little pink tongue was poking out slightly from his mouth, and his big golden eyes were staring up at Hermione with round innocence. Millicent gave him a fond pat. He was a very small cat, probably the smallest adult cat of the litter, but Millicent had always loved him, even if her brothers called him a worthless runt. 

Hermione, perhaps reaching the logical conclusion that a lover of one cat was a lover of all cats, stepped back into Millicent's range. 

"Alright. But if you hurt him--I will hex you so hard you'll think you're a Hufflepuff until graduation." Hermione warned.

"I understand." Millicent said, smiling happily. 

And she did. To hurt a cat wasn't just a crime--it was a sin. 

"His name is Crookshanks." Hermione said matter-of-factly, as Millicent gently petted the side of the cat's big furry face. The cat did not purr, but he didn't shy away either, bearing her pets with an air of neutral toleration. 

High praise from a cat, Millicent thought. To be tolerated by them was divine.

* * *

When Millicent had taken Hayden back from Hagrid, and gotten a kindly pat on the shoulder from one of those giants hands, in a show of appreciation for a good pet owner (Millicent having had Hayden neutered long before he was brought to Hogwarts), she had taken off back towards the castle without another word exchanged between her and Hermione. 

Still, Hayden curled comfortably on one of her wide shoulders, she couldn't resist spinning around and walking backwards for a few steps, getting one last look as Hermione stepped up towards the examination table with Crookshanks in her arms. Hermione was turned away from her, and all Millicent could see was the back of her robes and her large, bushy hair. 

Millicent liked her hair. It was all fluffy looking like a cat's fur, and she would have liked to run her hands over it and give it a good pet. Unfortunately she'd only ever felt it when she was yanking it with her fist as she and Granger tussled in some nasty fight where she had been motivated to hurt Hermione as much as possible for...some...reason. (Because it was what one did? Slytherins hated Gryffindors, and Gryffindors hated Slytherins. And Pansy hated Hermione and so so did Millicent.) But now, thinking about it, she doubted Hermione had ever felt required to hate her, or anyone else, in order to keep her friendships. 

Hermione romped about the grounds with friends who adored her, paid no heed to beauty standards, was some kind of genius who could answer any question thrown at her, and was never cowed by a Pansy Parkinson. She was amazing. Hermione sometimes reminded her of a small, rather aloof cat that neither wanted nor needed any human's approval. Millicent wished she could be like that. Millicent doubted she would ever be held highly in someone as grand as Hermione's esteem--but maybe she had moved towards receiving neutral toleration, just like Crookshanks had bestowed on her. If both cute cat and cute girl could feel such a way toward her, then the world was perhaps a kinder place than she'd thought it. 

As Millicent's strong and sturdied legs carried her further away from the object of her thoughts, she entertained the idea, not of being as strong and carefree as Hermione, but of perhaps being strong enough to never raise a hand against her or cast an ill word towards her again. She could never stand against Pansy--but maybe she could stop standing with her. 

At least where tormenting Hermione Granger was concerned.

* * *

"It must be true that there is some good in everyone." Hermione thought, as she watched the large, bulky form of Millicent Bulstrode striding across the grounds, the tiny, adorable tuxedo cat perched on her broad shoulder. 

She had seen the softer side of what had heretofore been a completely ugly, hateful foe. 

"And maybe there's some beauty in everyone too." she said aloud, thinking back to the way that big square face had turned into something pleasant to look upon, for just a few moments as Millicent had beamed down at Crookshanks with close set little eyes radiating pure love. The image of that big, awkward smiling face stayed with her for a long time that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is appreciated, even the most scathing critique! 
> 
> The title is in reference to the trope of a "Pet the Dog" moment, where kindness toward an animal shows that a villain isn't so bad after all. Millicent is getting a Pet the Dog moment to Hermione, but in her case it's a cat.
> 
> (And yes I can guess what you're thinking of as an alternative title LOL). 
> 
> This story probably won't be a strictly linear chronological progression. There will likely be large chunks of time skipped over between chapters.


End file.
